Boots Riley’s ‘I Love Boosters’ Lands West Coast Premiere as Centerpiece of 69th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM)
Today, SFFILM announced the Centerpiece program of the 69th San Francisco International Film Festival with a hometown and West Coast premiere of award-winning writer/director Boots Riley’s latest feature film, I Love Boosters, at Oakland’s historic movie palace, the Grand Lake Theatre. Riley will be in person for an onstage conversation.
SFFILM’s Executive Director Anne Lai lauded Riley’s talent and Bay Area spirit as central to his work. “Whether music or film, Boots’ larger than life presence and revolutionary perspective emanates through his art. Witnessing and supporting his work up close for years has been a gift. To now celebrate him and I Love Boosters in the home and to the audiences that inspire his audacious imagination and political practice is an incredibly satisfying moment.”
Riley has long been a member of the SFFILM community as a filmmaker, community advocate, and mentor to emerging artists. Jessie Fairbanks, SFFILM’s Director of Programming expanded about the selection of I Love Boosters and welcoming Boots back to the Festival. “It is such a privilege to showcase local talent in our festival lineup,” she said. “SFFILM has a long history of honoring local icons, and this is our third time featuring Boots Riley’s innovative work in the Festival. An honoree with the SFFILM Storytelling Award, a former FilmHouse Resident, and Rainin grantee of SFFILM, Riley’s visionary film Sorry To Bother You was the Festival Centerpiece in 2018, while his hilarious series I’m A Virgo closed the Festival in 2023. I deeply admire Boots and the way he deploys satire and surrealism as astute critiques of capitalism, institutional racism, and economic paradigms. His work is brave, bold, and wildly unexpected. We could not be more thrilled to anchor this year’s festival with the Centerpiece screening of I Love Boosters.”
Filmmaker Boots Riley added, “I’m hyped as hell to bring I Love Boosters to SFFILM since they were the first organization to recognize me as a filmmaker and to support me in my filmmaking journey. It’s going to be extra special to premiere in my hometown at Grand Lake Theater I’ve been going to since I was a kid. This film is my best work and it’s going to be special to see this movie, which is set in the Bay Area, play here.”
I Love Boosters tells the story of a fearless crew of inventive young women turns shoplifting into a radical act of defiance. Led by Corvette (Keke Palmer), they move across Oakland, boosting coveted goods as both survival and protest—challenging a system built on exclusion and excess. They even offer a community service, selling their stolen wares at deep discounts to make fashion accessible to all. When their exploits draw unwanted viral attention and their feud with fashion mogul Christine Smith (a hilarious Demi Moore) turns personal, the Boosters plan one final, audacious heist. Bursting with eye-popping visuals and razor-sharp social commentary, and joined by unexpected allies wielding supernatural powers and time-bending technology, they discover a chance to ignite revolutionary change.
The Centerpiece program takes place on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, with two screenings at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland. The first screening will start at 6:30 pm followed by a moderated conversation, and the second screening will start at 9:30 pm beginning with a moderated introduction. Tickets will go on sale exclusively for SFFILM Members on Monday, March 2, and to the general public on Wednesday, March 4. The San Francisco International Film Festival runs from April 24–May 4 in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland. The full program will be announced on April 1.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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